Angelo J. Bell: 1 Is All You Need

Imagine, after years of form-letter rejection notices, hang-ups, unreturned phone calls, spending thousands on screenwriting contests, pitch festivals, seminars, workshops and “how to write screenplays that sell” books, you finally do it. You finally sell a screenplay. That “1? is enough to sustain you as go through the same process again and again. 1 is all you need.

Imagine, after countless auditions, call-backs, featured extra roles, casting workshops, spending thousands on head shots, and more head shots; assembling, cutting and editing your reel for the umpteenth time, designing post cards, for your hundredth mailing…finally you nail it. The role of a lifetime! The role you’ve been dreaming of since you were a child comes your way. That “1? role is damn near erases all the stress, pain, anxiety, suffering and fear you’ve felt for decades. That “1? is enough to send you right back into the abyss to do it all over.

Imagine, after endless tours as the opening act for mildly successful garage bands, after a multitude of songs are composed and performed — but just miss the mark; after a few dozen freebies of scoring music for unknown and unappreciative filmmakers, after a year of saving for a new instrument or new MIDI device for your computer, you do it. You get hired to score a bonafide film production, or your band gets signed by a major record label, or the song your wrote/composed gets picked up by a major artist. That “1? instance of success is is powerful. Is is enough to make your start all over again.

Now, imagine this. After years of people telling you to “get a real job,” after years of hearing, “no one we know ever makes it,” or “the world is full of dreamers who never made it” or, “you’re not good enough” — after hearing this negative noise since you first expressed your artistic dreams…”I want to be a writer/actor/musician” — finally, one person comes along and says, “Go for it!” or “I believe in you!”

That “1? person is enough to erase the doubt injected into your mind from all the past negativity. That one positive person saying YES is enough to supercharge you, renew your strength and get you back on the road to go after your dreams.

The world is full of failures, missed tries, and negative people. Go find your “1?